Sunday, July 13, 2014

Q: Think of a popular TV show about cooking. I guarantee it's a show everyone has heard of. Remove the second and third letters of the first word and insert them after the first letter of the second word. You'll get a phrase for a different kind of cooking. What is it?

The only thing I can bring to the table this week is to think outside the box.

Edit: My hints were table and box. We have the periodic table of elements made up of boxes, and the "Breaking Bad" logo has Br and Ba inside boxes representing elements. Box also refers to a bread box as well as truly thinking outside the box for other ways of "cooking".

144 comments:

Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.

You may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.

This show's recipes are very challenging and the ingredients are rare/scarce. So, I have never tried to follow the course of the lead chefs. The principles are hard to follow, let alone incorporate them into your own cooking.

The understudies have been great. One sous-chef was abruptly cancelled. (He clearly threatened the main cook.) Another understudy--wildly funny, but really not that great a cook-- is nevertheless getting his own show that will appear on cable later in 2014 or 2015.

The show probably did more than any other show (since Ironsides) to demonstrate the challenges of living with a disability. Also helped underscore the importance of early cancer detection.

Surely, you have heard of the show. Hard to believe you'd get the answer otherwise. I followed the hints and used the Google, but it took some tries. When I finally saw it on the results list, I realized it was right. Thing is, I had been thinking in reverse as to which half of the puzzle was out of the box.

Quasi-lurker. I didn't get the answer this week, but my discussion with another puzzler led to him having the "eureka" moment. I've heard of the show, but have never seen it, so I didn't know it was a cooking show. Too bad for me!

Again Will is not playing fair with us. I know zero about this show, but I just a bit ago managed to find the answer by accident. I won't reveal how I stumbled across it until Thursday next. Until then you will have to rise to the occasion yourselves just as I did.

How about trying to convince your family members that the lady standing on the Four Corners point (CO, UT, NM, AZ) is your 80-year- old great aunt? My mom could not believe Aunt Marie from MA could be there. It was the only point in our journey we crossed paths as we were headed west and they were headed east. Neither group knew the others were traveling there.

1. Don't use no double negatives.2. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent.3. When dangling, watch your participles.4. Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.5. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.6. About those sentence fragments.7. Try to not ever split infinitives.8. It is important to use apostrophe's correctly.9. Always check what you have written to see you any words out.10. Correct spelling is esential.

My son and I are big sports fans. Some years back while attending a trade show we ran across a dealer advertising that he had plenty of those things used to hit baseballs. Above his display was a simple sign. It read: BAT'S'S' (The Case of the Apoplectic Apostrophe.)

Oh I meant was she five during Lou Gehrig's speech but if she is eighty now and not when she was at the four corners that would be different. Don't know, I am beginning to bluther. Must have had one of those cupcakes.

Well, I have tiptoed through the tulips, thought outside the box, stood at the 4corners, called my aunt, called my grandmother and dangled many infinitives with double negatives, but I am not getting this puzzle. Any clever clues out there? Thanks.

Good for you WW. SDB, I'm sorry you're not a baseball fan. Too bad. You'd have liked Mr. Gehrig. Modest, humble, easygoing, courageous. And since you already know the answer to the challenge, you can safely ignore him.

A puzzle that’s been flummoxin’ and outfoxin’ dumb oxen and lummoxen for more than four decades involves hijacking, extortion and a parachute. I have proposed a possible solution over at my Puzzleria! blog. And it involves a regular comment contributor over here at Blainesville!

Trying to figure this out got me looking up all the old cooking shows. Very nostalgic. And it reminded me of something that my older brother once said to me when he was teaching me how to cook. I asked why I had to add the ingredients in the particular order and he said: 'It's the chemistry of cooking'.

Whew! I finally had an aha moment about 4 this morning. I woke up from a deep sleep and there it was, the answer shot like a BB gun into my brain. I didn't think I was going to get to submit an answer this week. Thanks for the clues. In the aftermeth,the clues were all very good.

The hint I noticed on-air last Sunday had to do with 'times'. It may be the same hint Lorenzo noticed, but I can't guarantee that. Methinks someone on 'the other blog' NotICEd a different hint, but I'll say no more, because I don't want to get that individual in trouble.Me also thinks WW called me a vampire, of all things. Fangs a lot, WW! I try to say only nice things about you!Seriously, I thought saukriver captured the essential spirit of this puzzle perfectly. Is it the irony? I hesitate to use that term for fear of misusing it and being horselaughed ... at.I actually googled 'crohef' hoping it might be some sort of cooking vessel. Now THAT is irony; I guarantee it.

“Again Will is not playing fair with us. I know zero about this show, but I just a bit ago managed to find the answer by accident. I won't reveal how I stumbled across it until Thursday next. Until then you will have to rise to the occasion yourselves just as I did.”

The hint is “rise,” which hints at bread kneading (sic) to rise.

I had not heard of this “cooking” show. It is not a cooking show. I might never have found the answer were it not for a couple of the hints here. The hints at us thinking outside the box got me to the answer, but not the intended way. I finally thought box might refer to the toilet box for a pet, since pets don’t tend to eat in their toilet box, and began Googling for TV shows having to do with cooking pet food. No results that worked. I then tried making it specific to cats and again was getting nowhere and was going to stop, when the last one I was looking at on a Google list had something to do with a cat, but not cat food or anything I expected to find. I could see the words “Breaking Bad” and it got me to the answer. It may be clever, but I do not see this as a cooking show, nor a program “everyone” has heard of. Poorly worded again. I still do not understand what this program is really about because I did not want to read past all I needed in order to be sure I had solved the puzzle. I despise drama revolving around drugs and am not at all interested in knowing anything more about it.

Last Sunday I said, “So far I haven’t thought of a single clue that couldn’t be considered a dead giveaway. So I will just echo what Blaine wrote: think _way_ outside the box.” Dead as in Gale Boetticher and Gus Fring.

I think I might have misunderstood this puzzle’s directions. I removed only the second letter from the first word of the cooking show, and placed it after the first letter in the second word. This, of course, yielded “Beaking Brad” (Sure, Brad, of “Brad and Beth” fame, I thought). And I assumed that “beaking” was some kind of meth lab slang for “pouring cooked liquid meth from a science lab beaker into the ‘beak’ of some poor bird like Brad.” This would presumably result in a case of Brad Beth… er, I mean bad breath.

Is this a “different kind of cooking?” No. I guess it’s not so much food preparation, but falls more into the food presentation and service area. So, no lapel pin for me this week.

A little late to the reveal, but I just finished packing for vacation.

At the end of last week's thread I posted, "So here's how I solved the challenge: I assembled a panel of Paula Deen, Emeril Lagassi, Daniel Beard, Julia Child, and Yan. Had them sit down and confer for two hours. Came up with nothing. Then I took a shower, and Bingo!, there it was." Which was true in spirit, and not intended as a hint, though in retrospect I might say that having all the chefs come up with nothing indicated it was a different kind of cooking.

After Mr Science expressed some distaste with my procedure, I wrote, "Sat down with Ambrose Bierce, G.B. Shaw, Robert Benchley, and Karl Rove, and they agreed, "Forget about posting a clue; this conversation is not going in the right direction!" To my mind the words "Breaking Bad" can indicate that something has taken a wrong turn. (I don't have cable TV, have never seen the show, and don't know what exactly they mean by the title!)

Later I wrote, "we may get a bit off topic, still, as Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, . . . . no, I've been advised I'll have to save the exact quote 'til Thursday." The most famous advice giver in Hamlet is Polonius, who says something like, "May be madness, but there is METHod to it," a nod to the drug. (I was astounded when jsulbyrne thanked me for giving him the answer with that hint, but use of the word "insane" was proof of recognition!

Annoyed in Sheboygan. Would someone please tell me which network airs or aired "Baking Bread?" The PBS show "Bread" is not a show about cooking, let alone a "popular" one that "everyone has heard of." I figured out the answer to the second part of the question had to do with "cooking" drugs, but how to get from there to here, or here to there? Unfair or lazy clue, Mr. Will Shortz

Ruth, please read the challenge again: "Think of a popular TV show about cooking. I guarantee it's a show everyone has heard of. Remove the second and third letters of the first word and insert them after the first letter of the second word. You'll get a phrase for a different kind of cooking. What is it?"

Obviously, there is no show that everyone has heard of, but to quote a small part of the Wikipedia entry for Breaking Bad, "The series has won numerous awards and nominations, including ten Primetime Emmy Awards with one for Outstanding Drama Series. For his portrayal of Walter White, Bryan Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series three consecutive years in 2008, 2009, and 2010."

You had to start with the name Breaking Bad and perform the letter movement to get "Baking Bread." The latter is not nor was it intended to be a show title.

"The show about cooking" phrase was ok by me since it did not say what was being cooked. My only beef is with "everyone has heard of." Had Will said almost or nearly everyone I would have been happier.

Ah, thank you Bob K. and my cybersibling WW - I now see the error of my entire approach to the puzzle. If I'd limited myself to one TV show rather than two (one about cooking and the other about "cooking"), I might have saved myself a few days of frustration. Relieved in Raleigh...albeit with some embarassment to go along with it.

And now a few words from Mr. Gehrig, spoken on July 4, 1939: ""Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth."

Like some of you, I had never heard of the show either. But by Tuesday I was treating every tv show as a potential candidate, moving letters and coming up with gibberish. Then a blurb appeared on some cable channel heralding the arrival of "Breaking Bad." To quote James Whitmore: "I near soiled myself."

So I was house cleaning Christmas week when the Breaking Bad marathon came on tv. I was not paying much attention at first til I realized this mild mannered teacher was becoming quite an ego-maniac with close calls beyond what most people would experience so I watched til the house was clean - long time, have a messy family. However, since my agency (mental health) has only recently merged with substance use, I am still on a learning curve and did not know you could further bake the crystal meth into brownies. So my hint of "not dealing with brownies" was not correct. I googled and discovered a guy who specializes in baking meth into cupcakes. I have not as of yet, contacted him for samples.

CS Ruth, it was a tricky puzzle but was carefully worded (except the everyone part). Getting the wording just right is the best part of a good puzzle for me.

My longing is for puzzles that explore more meaningful arenas--scientists discovering new things, artists creating magnificent pieces of work, geography, history, physics, geology, astronomy, medicine, music, anything but a show about meth which, I just learned, is also called ice or Tina [why?] (Still don't get the "n" thing though, Paul).

As far as I can tell, the origins of "Tina" for meth are obscure. It seems to be more commonly used in the gay community (an odd term in itself. Is an exclusive gay community a gay-ted community?). One line of speculation is the transformation of crystal meth -> Christine -> Tina. Another is that the drug is commonly sold in one-sixteenth of an ounce packages (really?), so sixteenth -> teenth -> teena -> Tina. I find none of this compelling.

I had consulted a list of nicknames for the alleged substance, thinking I might crank out a non-obvious hint or two. I had no real reason for choosing ICE, or for hiding it behind an N; it's just what happened. Then someone at Crosswordmanville observed that nice had been tossed around rather freely on the air that morning, and, as I had previously reported detecting an on-air hint (which,as I have indicated elsewhere, was actually chemist), I naturally thought hmmmm...Maybe this will teach me not to hmmmm... out loud. Doubtful. Nothing has in, lo, these many decades.

The opposite of nice is naughty. I thought everyone knew that. You still have five months to learn it.

Setting: a busy street in downtown SpatulaTrialogue:Stranger asking directions: “How do you get from Spatula to Tina?”Spatula local yokel: “You can’t get there from here!”Stranger: “Dadgum! I’ve got an important business appointment in Tina.”Yokel: “Sorry Mister.”Visitor to Spatula, overhearing the exchange: “To get to Tina from Spatula you have to go through Turner.”Stranger: “Thank you Sir. I am much indebted to you.”(Visitor exits on horseback)Yokel: “Who was that mapsed man?”(Cut to announcer George Fenneman Cooper)“Yes, friends, when you just have to get from here to there, don’t depend on dunderheads. Don’t leave it to chance. What you need is the dependable GPS, the Global Paulsitioning System. It’s like having the Lone Ranger riding shotgun right next to you, with Tonto driving in the backseat as a back-up.”(Fade to a road stretching into the sunset, with a vehicle in the distance gradually decreasing in size. In the foreground is a roadside sign reading: “You are now leaving Spatula. Turner 7. Tina 16.”)

Was that Edward Scissorhand, The Mohel? I have trouble understanding the archaic form of English Jesus spoke back then. Also, I thought Eve used a Compaq.

Another question that has been bothering me is whether Adam actually had naughty bits before God ribbed him and gave him Eve. I mean, how could they be considered naughty before there was anything naughty he could do with them. Oh, I almost forgot about the snake. Never mind.

Actually, the puzzle solution was hiding in plain sight. If you go to the Yahoo search engine and type in “tv show about cooking” it suggests “tv show about cooking meth.” That’s what put me onto the answer.

Yes, Blaine, and about skydivealtarboy as well. When I type in “tv show about cooking” it suggests “tv show about cooking the books." I guess that's what I get for leading a life of embezzlement!LegoLambezzle

Thanks for giving me the benefit of the debit, but I am a book-cooker, not a Bradbury-book-looker. And besides, I’ve always preferred the “translated-for-scientists” version of that book, “Celsius 233” (a Fibonacci number, no less! Well, actually a little less. It really should be “Celsius 232.778.”)

When I type into my search engine “tv show about burning” it suggests not “tv show about burning books" but instead “tv show about burning down houses." I guess that's what I get for leading a life of arson!

Blaine, et al,Right you are, and I was thinking about that myself and was going to include in my post a comment on either my lifestyle or something to that effect, but I did not want anyone to actually think I am pure and innocent. I just am not into drugs.

I remember when Will's puzzles were interesting and exotic. I'm afraid he's gone from the exotic to the plain and ordinary.

The trick to this puzzle was that most people would assume that the TV show would be about the ordinary type of cooking and that the phrase would be about the more exotic kind. My clue merely points out the direction change - that the TV show, BREAKING BAD, is about the exotic kind of baking (baking crystal meth!) and that the resultant phrase, BAKING BREAD, is about the plain and ordinary type of cooking.

I did a bit of reading about the show and don't have your answer, Paul. Although the creator and producer, Vincent Gilligan (now I get that clue) did speak of Walter White, as transforming from the protagonist to the antagonist during the run of the show. I did find this though on Wikipedia:

"Walter White's name is reminiscent of the poet Walt Whitman. The mid-season finale of season five, "Gliding Over All", is titled after poem 271 of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. During the series, Gale Boetticher gives Walt a copy of "Leaves of Grass." Prior to giving this gift, Boetticher, recites "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer". In the episode "Bullet Points", Hank finds the initials W.W. written in Boetticher's notes, and jokes with Walt that they are his initials, although Walt indicates that they must refer to Whitman.

In the episode "Hazard Pay", Walt finds the copy of Leaves of Grass as he is packing up his bedroom, briefly smiles and leaves it out to read. This occurs at an especially high point in his life, where he feels that things are coming together and he is succeeding in all his ventures. A poem in the book, "Song of Myself", is based on many of these same feelings, furthering the connection between Walt's life and Whitman's poetry. In the episode "Gliding Over All", Hank finds Leaves of Grass in Walt's bathroom and opens it to the cover page where he reads the hand-written inscription: "To my other favorite W.W. It's an honour working with you. Fondly G.B." Upon reading this, Hank becomes visibly shocked, realizing the truth about Walter for the first time, which provides the opening premise for the second half of the final season."

I enjoy Walt Whitman's poetry so may take a look at the series if it's on Netflix. Is it more about family than meth (at least in the beginning)?

And the Br(omine) and Ba(rium) in both the Breaking Bad title and in Baking Bread have nothing to do with either process (thankfully). . .

A couple of ranchers are talking about their ranches. One claims he can walk off his porch at sunrise, hop in his pickup truck, pick any direction, drive until sunset, and not leave his property. The other replies that he once had a pickup truck like that.

Next week's challenge: This is a two-part challenge. First, take the phrase "rap yet crash." Rearrange these 11 letters to name something that might follow a crash. Then cross out four letters in this answer. The remaining seven letters in order will spell an appropriate name. What is it?

CorrectionJuly 20, 2014The original "Next Week's Challenge" posted on this page has been replaced with the challenge that aired on Weekend Edition Sunday's July 20 broadcast. We apologize for the error.

The official challenge now listed on the site: Name something in five letters that's nice to have a lot of in the summer. Change the last letter to the following letter of the alphabet. Rearrange the result, and you'll name something else that you probably have a lot of in the summer, but that you probably don't want. What is it? (HINT: the second thing is a form of the first thing.)

There's two "probablys" in there. Maybe Will is listening to our words about using words like always, definitely, everyone...

Next week's puzzle as given over the air as opposed to what's given on NPR's web site:

Name something in five letters that it's nice to have lots of in the summer. Change the last letter to the following letter of the alphabet, rearrange the result, and you'll name something else that you probably have lots of in the summer, but don't want. Hint: The second thing is a form of the first thing.

Lorenzo - No I don't. I find that the "appropriate name" is a real person's name! You might be thinking of something like a map, but try to think of the "something that might follow a crash" trying to somehow connect with that real person. (Hint: a letter is going to be capitalized.)